Speaking Up in the Midst of a Crisis — with Karna Lozoya
Season 3, Episode 2 | Originally aired on January 19, 2021
About the episode
"I have to have confidence that I play an important part in this mission and have confidence in my role."
When Karna Lozoya started her job as the Executive Director of Strategic Communications at Catholic University of America, she had no idea that one of her first major projects to work on would be dealing with the breaking sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. It became apparent to Karna and her colleagues that something had to be done to address the issue. From there, she helped to facilitate The Catholic Project and is the host of the podcast Crisis: Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church. Through hosting this podcast, Karna learned not only historical facts about the crisis that our Catholic Church faces, but also about the pivotal role that the laity have in addressing this issue. In this episode, Karna and I talk about how she got to the Catholic University of America, what she learned from hosting Crisis, and the powerful role that the laity have in guiding the direction of the Catholic Church.
Listen to the episode
Meet Karna Lozoya
Karna Lozoya is the Executive Director of Strategic Communications at the Catholic University of America. Karna has spent her entire career telling the Catholic story, both as a journalist and as a public relations professional. She has worked for ZENIT, Aleteia, The Archdiocese of Denver, and The Catholic University of America. She arrived at Catholic University just in time for the summer of 2018, and was instrumental in the initial launch of The Catholic Project.
The Catholic Project, through their work on "Crisis" put together a number of resources around learning about, reporting, and seeking support on issues of clergy sex abuse. You can access those here.
In November 2020, the Vatican released the McCarrick Report, a 461-page report that looked at how former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick rose to power in the Catholic Church, despite the fact that he sexually abused minors. You can read the report here.
If you have suffered abuse at the hands of someone representing the Catholic Church (priest, deacon, or other), know that it is not your fault and there are processes in place to report and seek support: